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Implicit Stem Identities and Gender-Stem Associations of Women Majoring in Stem and Female-Dominated Fields At Different Points in College

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dc.contributorBlack, Sheila
dc.contributorDiekman, Amanda B
dc.contributorWhite, Bradley A
dc.contributor.advisorBarth, Joan M.
dc.contributor.advisorRoskos, Beverly
dc.contributor.authorDunlap, Sarah T
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of Alabama Tuscaloosa
dc.date.accessioned2022-07-05T20:07:44Z
dc.date.available2022-07-05T20:07:44Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.descriptionElectronic Thesis or Dissertationen_US
dc.description.abstractWomen’s implicit associations regarding science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and gender may inhibit their desire to pursue STEM careers and their success in these fields should they choose to pursue them. Little consensus exists regarding when these associations begin to develop and what may lead to changes over time. This study examined whether STEM-gender implicit associations of college women majoring in STEM are less stereotypical than those who choose female-dominated majors (FDMs), whether these associations might differ between students at the start and at the end of their degree program, and whether these associations are related to previous experiences with STEM or to explicit STEM-gender associations. Participants were 240 women, half STEM majors and half FDMs. Each major group included half first-year and half more advanced students. Participants completed an online survey including two implicit associations tests (IATs). A Career Identity IAT measured participants’ personal career identities by contrasting the attributes of self-other with the constructs of STEM careers and “person” careers, which are careers that involve working with and helping people. The Gender-Career Stereotype IAT contrasted the attributes of male-female with the two career types. Measures of explicit gender stereotypes and earlier educational experiences related to STEM were also gathered. There were four research questions. The first two questions asked if implicit associations differed by major and year in college. Results indicated that STEM women’s scores reflected counter-stereotypical associations on both IATs, in contrast to the more traditional associations of FDMs. There were no effects for year in school. Question 3 asked about the relations of IAT scores with earlier educational experiences and explicit gender stereotypes. Results indicated that educational experiences were related to less stereotypical scores on each IAT. Counterintuitively, traditional explicit gender-STEM associations were related to less stereotypical scores on the Career-Identity IAT. Question 4 examined how all measures predicted major choice. The IAT scores and early educational experiences increased the likelihood of women pursuing STEM. Unexpectedly, STEM Majors and older students reported more pronounced explicit gender-STEM associations. These results have implications for interventions that encourage women’s participation in STEM.en_US
dc.format.mediumelectronic
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.otherhttp://purl.lib.ua.edu/184336
dc.identifier.otheru0015_0000001_0004385
dc.identifier.otherDunlap_alatus_0004D_14768
dc.identifier.urihttps://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/8603
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Alabama Libraries
dc.relation.hasversionborn digital
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Electronic Theses and Dissertations
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Libraries Digital Collections
dc.rightsAll rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.en_US
dc.subjectCollege
dc.subjectGender
dc.subjectImplicit Associations
dc.subjectSTEM
dc.titleImplicit Stem Identities and Gender-Stem Associations of Women Majoring in Stem and Female-Dominated Fields At Different Points in Collegeen_US
dc.typethesis
dc.typetext
etdms.degree.departmentUniversity of Alabama. Department of Psychology
etdms.degree.disciplineCognitive psychology
etdms.degree.grantorThe University of Alabama
etdms.degree.leveldoctoral
etdms.degree.namePh.D.

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